Haunteds

Chapter 29

"Get back!" Major Coleman ordered us. His men created a second wall of riot shields. Major Coleman directed us towards the entrance on the left of the gate. I went in last, allowing myself a glimpse of the Shade's elongated scythe arm slicing the line of soldiers through their waists in one swift stroke. The riot shields were useless.

We kept running. I looked back at the entrance, expecting the Shade to follow us through there. There was a sharp, metallic zing! and the gate fell in three parts, clanging against the concrete. Screams erupted. Major Coleman shouted for us to keep moving but it was too late. The Shade got to us.

Got me.

It grabbed me by my neck. It was crushing my throat. I clawed at the arm choking me. But under its soft, jelly-like skin, my fingers dug into its solid, fleshy inside. And it was cold. Freezing, biting cold. I kicked. I pulled. My friends tried their best to make the Shade let go. Leo smashed the searchlight he had on the Shade's arm. The Shade didn't even flinch. Demi was throwing stones at its face. Scarlet's tongue lashed out a string of insults and trash talks. But Caprice thought asking politely was the way to go.

Major Coleman stepped up to the Shade's side, leveled a gun at its head and pulled the trigger. But the Shade stood still, the bullet still lodged in its temple. Then I realize. It's completely still.

I raised a hand. "Guys...stop," I said, croaking out each word. They must have realized something's off too because they stopped. That's when the Shade's face was pulled apart and an empty skull pushed through. 

The Shade's grip on my neck prevented me from screaming. But my arms were free. I dug my elbow on its arm repeatedly, frantic to get away but I was forced to watch as the eyes popped out of the empty eye sockets. The eyes rolled down to reveal brown pupils. Fibers of muscles started weaving themselves. It was like looking at an anatomical dummy in class, with the see-through bones and removable organs. But instead of plastic, this one is made of living flesh.

A screeching voice was coming out of the Shade and slowly becoming an unmistakable scream of that of a man. All the hair in my body stood up. This thing must have adapted its vocal cords to match a human's. A pair of ears grew out and brown skin stretches itself covering everything up till I am now looking at the face of a man. The nose had been the last to form.

Strands of shadow from the Shade's original body clung onto the side of the man's face like ligaments to bones. But the worst part is that I recognized this face. The narrow chin, the thick eyebrows, the mole beneath his left eye. There's no mistaking it. I saw him on one of the pictures Major Coleman showed us back at the museum. My friends shrieked and took a few steps back. Major Coleman ran away.

"You..." I croaked. I stopped struggling and focused more on getting the words out. "You're the...cult leader...Daniel...Cruz"

He let go of me. The moment I hit the concrete, arms slid under my armpits and I was whisked up to my feet. "I got you," Darius said. I rubbed my neck, coughing. It was sore. And hopefully, that's all. Soon, rows of soldiers surrounded the Shade, or rather Daniel, who was busy admiring his new body. Their U.V. searchlights on. But at this point, it was no different from a regular one. So they raised their firearms and opened fired.

"So this is my body now," The cult leader, Daniel, said after the barrage. His face was full of holes. But the wounds spat out the bullets and closed themselves up real Wolverine-like. "Not bad. Not bad at all."

"How...you," I said. I found myself moving closer to him. Curiosity and shock had overwritten my fear of dying.

He looked at me. "What year is it?"

"Um...2025."

"Fifty-one years, huh."

"You should be dead. And now you're...the Shade?"